


What Happened After? Curley's Wife (Of Mice and Men)

by superfloyd_writes_137



Category: Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Genre: Afterlife, Character Death, Gen, Happy Ending, Short, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25250002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superfloyd_writes_137/pseuds/superfloyd_writes_137
Summary: After Curley's Wife dies in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, I thought her story was incredibly dissatisfying, and I pitied how her life had turned out in the novella. So, I decided to write my take on what happened to her afterwards...
Kudos: 3





	What Happened After? Curley's Wife (Of Mice and Men)

**Author's Note:**

> This was a school project I thought might interest a few people. I wish I could've made it longer, but fortunately the premise of this short read is something I'm elaborating on in another, longer work in progress (with a different character, though). Tell me what you think!

The world was quiet.

Soft darkness consumed the sight of Curley’s wife, blinding her in a way that had nothing to do with light. No noise- not even the barely audible thrum of life that permeated reality- disturbed the world.

Curley’s wife opened her eyes slowly, and the darkness melted away. Confused, she sat up quickly- in- her own bed?

“What in…” She started, before trailing off, as she fully took in the surroundings. 

She was sitting in her bed-  _ her _ bed, the one in her mother’s house, before she had married Curley. Her childhood bed. Every squeaky spring, every lump in the mattress, the chipping paint on the metal frame, all of it was very real. And yet…

She definitely wasn’t in any house she knew. She wasn’t even sure it was a house.

A vast, bone-white void of marble flooring was the only thing distinguishing the world around her. She couldn’t see any walls- but the air was surprisingly light, from some unseen source, and the horizons were misty from sheer distance.

_ An’ who in alla California can afford a big ole place like this? _ She thought, more confused than ever. Taking comfort in the quilt on the bed-which  _ had _ to be real, it had to, here, look, her name was stitched into it!- Curley’s wife was suddenly quite frightened.

“Hello?” She called into the void. There wasn’t even an echo. Her voice just traveled into the distance, and was snuffed simply from the sheer enormity of the world. 

She was very frightened now, and starting to tremble. Despite this, she shouted angrily, “If there’s anybody out there I wanna know  _ right now _ what’s goin’ on!”

Immediately, there was a  _ pop _ to her right. Curley’s wife spun her head around, startled, and screamed as she spotted a little impish figure floating only inches from her shoulder.

“Wait! Wait! Hold on, woman! I’m not gonna hurt you!” The imp hollered as it whizzed around Curley’s wife’s head, avoiding her dogged attempts to swat it while she continued screaming. 

Curley’s wife pulled her head underneath the quilt, and, still shaking, yelled back, “I don’ care what a stupid little fairy like you says but  _ don’ you dare touch me! _ ” 

The imp figure landed with crisscrossed legs at the foot of Curley’s wife’s bed patiently and sighed. “Listen, ma’am, you hafta get your head outta that blankie there or we’re gonna be here a  _ long _ time.”

Tentatively, she pulled the quilt off of her head. She scooched her legs toward her and stared dumbfounded at the imp, while absentmindedly fixing her sausage-curled hair.

“There’s a good lassie, now. ‘M deeply sorry ‘bout the, ah, sudden appearance… how about I start over?” The imp held out a tiny purple hand. “My name’s Cas. I’m here to help you out. What’s your name?”

Curley’s wife stared, suspicious, but intrigued. “I’m Betty. Betty Scott. Curley’s wife.” She said the last part bitterly, and cast her eyes down.

“Ain’t no Curley here, Miss Betty. You ain’t nobody’s wife no more. See… I think I’d better explain some things about this place. Tell me… What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Hold yer horses, you- Cas- what d’ya mean ‘ain’t nobody’s wife no more’?” Betty asked hotly. 

“Jus’ tell me the last thing you remember an’ I promise I’ll explain everything.” Cas leaned forward. “Jus’  _ think _ .”

Betty sat and thought. What did she remember? “I… I remember bein’ in the barn…” She concentrated more. Why was it so hard to remember? “I was talkin’ to the big guy! Lennie, his name was, an’ he was awful sweet, jus’ like a little kid, an’ he wanted to touch my hair…” 

Betty gasped. “Oh! Oh no!”

“Ah, you rememberin’ now?” Cas grinned an evil little smile.

“Oh, I remember now! He was pullin’ my hair too hard an’ I tole him to stop bu’ he din’t wan’ me to scream so he done put his hand over my mouth an’ I kept screamin’ and then he shook me an’... an’... an’ then I can’t remember nothin’ else no more!” Betty wailed, bursting into tears at the shock of the memory.

“Oh dear, Betty, please, stop crying, it’s alright now,” Cas floated up to Betty’s shoulder and patted it comfortingly. 

“What happened, Cas? Tell me _right now!_ _What is going on?_ ” Betty glared angrily at Cas, slapping her hands onto the bed.

Cas backed away, arms held up defensively. “I- I think maybe you’d better calm down…” they said weakly.

“No! I been tole ‘no’ evr’y day o’ my life! Now _ tell me! _ ” Betty was furious now.

“Fine! Fine! Alright! That’s it! You’re dead! You! Are! Dead! There! Is that good enough for you?” Cas snapped.

Betty was silent from shock. “I’m… I’m dead?” She stuttered.

“Yes, you’re dead. You’re also not real.” Cas huffed. “You’re just a fictional character in some story. My employers didn’t specify which book, but you look like you’re straight outta the Great Depression.”

Betty stared into the distance for a moment. “I’m… not real…” She trailed off, blankly, processing this information.

“But that's okay! If you weren't ever real then you can't really be dead, right? So just think of it like one big dream.” Cas wheedled desperately, not wanting another return of Betty´s tears. “Anyways, you don't have to worry about being dead for long. My employers sent me here to offer you… a job.”

Betty glared at Cas angrily, tears in her eyes. “So you’re sayin’ that I’m dead bu’ I gotta  _ work _ now?” 

“Well hold on, hold on… I haven't even gotten to the best part yet! You and I are fictional, yes? So when we die, we come here, and we get jobs in the vast multiverse of fiction. You can be reborn, into an extra character in some new narrative across time! Just imagine, you, a movie star, in the year nineteen-eighty! You could live in luxury  _ in the future! _ ” Cas’s eyes gleamed as they searched Betty’s tearful face.

“I… I can be… a movie star? You can put me in pitchers? Big famous pitchers in th’ future?” Betty blinked, and she was smiling now, a hungry, starved smile, eager for more.

Cas grinned warmly. “Absolutely. You won't be the main character though…” Their face fell slightly.

“But I´ll still be famous? I'll still be in movies an’ eatin’ chocolates wi’ a great big mink coat on an’ loungin’ on floppy purple couches alla time?”

“Guaranteed. You won’t even remember any of this happened. You’ll live as a beautiful movie star with no worries, no memory of this conversation or your past life.” Cas smiled and pulled out a small, cubic device that looked vaguely alien.

“Can… Can I go righ’ now?” Betty whispered, hardly believing her luck.

“Of course. Here… this box has a button on it. Just press it once you’re ready.” Cas handed Betty the cubic device, pointing out the little green button on the side. 

Betty held the little box in her hands for a moment. It was lighter than she’d expected, but it held a different weight to her. “Just one little button an’ I’ll be a movie star sittin’ wi’ famous people all day?”  
“Yep.” Cas patted her leg. “I’ll let you have a moment.” They floated up a few inches and hovered off of the bed, a couple of feet away from Betty.

Betty thought for a moment. She’d never be Betty again, once she pressed this button. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe she could finally be her own person, free of the prejudices of her time, able to achieve her dream at last. She certainly wouldn’t remember her dream- she’d be living it instead- but it made her wonder. Had she passed through this place before? Had she once dreamed of ranch life?

_ No way I’d ever dream of a life like that, _ Betty thought. “Alright,” She called to Cas. “I think I’m gonna do it.”

“Wonderful. It’ll be like you never even left. You might want to close your eyes though,” They offered from their floating perch in the air.

Suddenly gripped with a resolve she’d never felt before, Betty pressed the button, keeping her eyes wide open. A flash of greenish-yellow light enveloped her like a cocoon, caressing her warmly, like a summer wind. The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was only a thought-  _ Free at last _ . The silence of the void snuffed all else, rapid as a storm.

It was a beautiful day in Hollywood- well, it always was- and the famous actress Diane Thorne smiled as she stared into the setting sun over the waves from her penthouse. She felt unusually happy today. Like she was finally free. She shook her head. Just a passing thought. 

Diane slipped off her mink coat and padded softly upstairs to her room. She had a big project tomorrow. Best to get some well-deserved rest.


End file.
